Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State. I have raised the issue of the Bandon relief road on a continuous basis in this Chamber. We have a major issue in west Cork with regard to infrastructure. We must acknowledge that an amazing amount of money has been spent in Bandon town in the past ten years. We have had a flood relief scheme. We have had a sewerage scheme. We have had many millions of euro spent on a plethora of projects that have really benefited the town.

The job now is about trying to get the traffic out of the town. Bandon is the biggest town in west Cork, with a half-completed relief road that was built more than 30 years ago. We are now trying to make sure that we get the vast numbers of cars and lorries out of the town. Those numbers are quite frightening. When you look at the traffic that goes through South Main Street in particular, I would estimate anything from 10,000 to 14,000 cars and trucks pass my office there every day of the week. This is killing the town. It is choking the town. This town has the potential to evolve and become a really vibrant location. Bandon could become the heart of west Cork but we need to get the lorries out of it. That is why the relief road is so important.

We have been on this journey for almost 30 years. There was a feasibility study done with the relevant unit in the Department in 2001. It is 20 years later and we are moving on. I worked out the phases, and it is quite a complex process. We are on phase 2 of a four-phase project. We are in stage 1 of phase 2 and are moving to stage 2 of the latter. The Minister of State can imagine the issue within the town as to where matters stand with regard to the project.

We went through public consultation last July. There were eight options proposed in the context of the first stage of this consultation. Those involved are supposed to come back to us in the second quarter of this year with a report and, hopefully, go to a preferred option by the end of this year. It is important that we stick to the timelines, which were announced last year. We need to get movement in order that we will have a preferred option on the table by the end of the year. It is imperative that we meet the timelines. If we do not meet them, everything will be dragged out.

I look at truck movements. It is killing us to have heavy trucks going through Bandon on a continuous basis. We need get them out of the town and onto the bypass. If we do not do so, I fear the town will not reach its full potential. Bandon's potential Bandon is quite amazing.

The Minister of State might provide an update. Have we stuck to the timelines? Has there been slippage? It was announced last July that stage 2 of phase 1 would be announced in quarter 2 of 2023. We need to make sure that the timelines are right. We also need to make sure that stage 3 of phase 2 will be announced by the fourth quarter of 2023.

I will return to the matter of phases and stages. If those involved could make it any more complex, they would do so. It is beyond belief what we are dealing with.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I thank Senator Lombard. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan.

The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads becomes a matter for TIl, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TIl ultimately delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the NDP.

One of these proposed schemes is an extension to the existing Bandon relief road. This road ties back into the existing road network via a steep downhill gradient. Traffic also needs to negotiate a number of roundabouts and priority junctions within the built-up area of Bandon. There is quite heavy traffic on the N71 in this area, with, as the Senator said, average daily traffic of between 9,000 and 14,000 vehicles. Heavy goods vehicles comprise approximately 5% of this traffic. The proposed relief road extension would involve bridging the R603 to remove the steep gradient and the construction of approximately 2.5 km of new single carriageway tying back into the existing N71, just to the west of the town. A public consultation was held by Cork County Council in June 2022 as part of the options selection process, and procurement of technical advisers is ongoing to advance the scheme based on the feedback received.

The route feasibility study for the Innishannon bypass - this is on another section of the N71 - was previously commenced but was not advance to conclusion as the scheme is not included in the NDP. TII has advised that the advancement of the proposed scheme cannot be accommodated in the national roads programme at this point.

A feasibility study for the Bantry bypass was previously completed by Cork County Council. This related to phase 2 of the bypass route, from the hospital around the south of the town to link back into the N71. TII has been in discussions with the local authority on advancing this. However, it is proving difficult to do so due to constraints and terrain issues. Cork County Council has, however, progressed phase 1 of the bypass scheme to the north of the town and has obtained Part 8 planning for the scheme. This will connect the hospital to the N71. The local authority and TII will be discussing the possibility of progressing this scheme, pending available funding.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response. There was probably nothing in it that I do not know. The only issue is the timelines. It is about making sure that TII and Cork County Council do not slip on these timelines. They announced them quite clearly last July. At that stage, they gave a commitment that stage 2 would be announced by quarter 2 of 2023. That was in the consultation documents that they published in July 2022. It is very important that we stick to these timelines and that is the key point of my argument this morning. I acknowledge the work that has been done. I understand that Cork County Council and TII have done a great deal of work on it, but there is a need to ensure that stage 2 is published by the end of quarter 2.

The most important part is that stage 3, the preferred route option, needs to be published by the end of quarter 4.As stated, TII published these timelines last July. I am repeating myself at this point. If the Minister of State does not have the information here, he can revert to me just to make sure that TII is sticking to the timelines. I am deeply concerned about slippage.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I admire the Senator's tenacity in following up on this matter. He is right to do so. Of all State agencies involved in infrastructure provision, TII has been at the forefront. It is probably because TII has delivered so many road projects over many years that it has developed very strong in-house expertise. Of all agencies, TII's numbers or predictions for its projects and plans are the ones I would believe. TII is really able to deliver a road on time and on budget.

My Department has been renamed as the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. That name change is not just a marketing exercise. The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, has brought a memo to Cabinet to show how there is going to be a change of focus in the Department away from simply finding reasons as to why projects should be re-evaluated and towards making sure that they are delivered.

The Senator is right to follow up on these matters, but I have faith in TII. If he wants to meet afterwards in order to follow up on any specific questions he has about this road scheme or TII, I would be happy to do so.